


positively scandalous

by Arithanas



Category: The Alienist (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 07:29:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: Today—John was sure—was the day when he finally could be someone to Sara.





	positively scandalous

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rodo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodo/gifts).



John Moore liked women the way some men liked good wine: in moderation. But there was always an exception for every rule and, in his case, Sara Howard was that exception.   
  
Sara, who could shoot game better than any of John’s acquaintances, had the particular skill to find the sore spot and the lack of delicacy to avoid them. That combination made her someone to dodge carefully in those long, boring soirées of New York’s high society. Her father apparently hadn’t lost hope that he would find a husband for his firecracker of a daughter.   
  
Today—John was sure—was the day when he finally could be someone to Sara. He straightened the knot of his tie, pulled down his vest to better smooth out the wrinkles, and finished the last of his whiskey. A careful reader might have guessed the reason for John’s certainty by now, but for those souls wanting in wit, said reason would be put in letters.   
  
Sara Howard was trapped. Had that trap been a bear trap John Moore would have let her deal with it, for she was deft in those practical matters, but in this case Sara was ensnared in the most pitiful social snare of all: stuck in a corner with a drunk Vanderbilt relative. John approached the corner with the polite intention of offering her his arm—and his relative sobriety—as a shelter from the storm. Ah, the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry…   
  
“Such an indecent proposal… positively scandalous!”   
  
Sara Howard never minced words, and that’s one of her best qualities. John Moore stood in the middle of the room, too close to the scene to feign a polite disregard, but—Thank Heavens for the small mercies—too far to be considered the addressee of  such a fiery rebuke. Sara stood shaking in front of Vanderbilt's cousin, her hand quaintly poised on her breast.   
  
“Only Goodness knows how you dare to put such idea in words! I don’t think there is a woman in this land willing to subject herself to such a shameful treatment… Good day to you, sir!”   
  
Sara turned around. How she managed to be pale and flushed at the same time was a mystery John refused to contemplate. Rumor was starting to spread, first in short looks, then continued behind extended fans. John dithered in offering Sara his arm, but that lasted just enough for him to realize no one else would come to her rescue.   
  
“Thank you, John,” Sara rested the weight of her seventeen years on his arm before whispering him an annoyed warning. “Don’t say a word. Take me out, and hand me some tobacco before they learn his outrageous behaviour amounted to offering me his hand in marriage…”     
  
Managing to control his laughter by some miracle of will, John did exactly that, enjoying the sound of the rumor mill still spinning behind their backs.   
  
Sara Howard was one of a kind and John Moore still considered her the most worthy exception.


End file.
